By Andrew Ahern
Recent months have seen a lot of climate action at the federal, state, and local level. The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act at the federal level combined with Massachusetts’ Clean Energy and Offshore Wind bill will help advance the transition to a clean energy economy. Here in Boston, Mayor Wu passed a building electrification mandate, announced an expansion of Boston’s bike network, and joined the cycling community to promote biking during the Orange Line shutdown.
These are each exciting developments. With new money, new laws, and a new progressive Mayor in Massachusetts’ capital city, it is worth taking the time to reflect on what Boston’s transportation goals are as it concerns biking and how these new investments fit in with Boston’s existing goals to accelerate a zero carbon future. This is particularly relevant given that the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030 acknowledges that in order to meet our emissions targets, we will have to reduce our state vehicle miles traveled (VMT). (Photo credit: Robin Lubbock, WBUR)
In 2017, then Mayor Marty Walsh and the Boston Transportation Department created Go Boston 2030 — a goal-oriented vision for Boston’s transportation future. In it, the City of Boston set a goal to increase bike commutes fourfold, from its current two percent of commuters to eight percent by 2030. In 2015, bicycle infrastructure in Boston had expanded to include six new miles of protected bike lanes (with plans to add 15 more miles) and 105 miles of total bike lanes installed, along with 1,900 new bikes racks, a 30 percent increase in ridership for Boston’s bikeshare program, and 35,000 Boston youth instructed in bicycle safety and riding.
These infrastructure improvements are vital for Boston to reach its goals since the number one reason people cite for their reluctance to bike in cities has to do with safety. According to the website Goodordering, over 80 percent of survey respondents put road safety as their top concern when asked why they don’t bike more. Weather and practical issues like parking and navigation were the next most popular answers. In this way, “if you build it they will come” applies to getting more people on their bikes, where “it” refers to protected bike lanes, navigation tools, and generally, separating bikes from cars as much as possible.
This is especially relevant because depending on what study you look at, Boston ranks, at best, as one of the top bicycling cities in the country, and at worst, middle-of-the-pack. For instance, the organization People for Bikes ranked Boston 259 out of 1105 cities and towns in North America, and 37 out of 85 for big cities. Based on the People for Bikes methodology, which prioritizes people's access to essential goods and services that can be accessed by bike, Boston had a low “network” score. Comparatively, Boston had a much higher “community score” which examines how often people bike, their knowledge of bicycle safety, and citizen advocacy for biking. This demonstrates that there is a culture of bicycling in the city but that we lack the proper design and infrastructure that could help this bicycle culture flourish.
Fortunately, the Go Boston 2030 report recognizes this. In their report, the city aims to have all residents be within 10 minutes walking or biking of public transportation, a key bus station, or rideshare program. Likewise, the report recognizes the need for mixed-use development that will allow people to walk or bike to work, restaurants, and other essential services— ideally all within the same neighborhood. Given that 49 percent of all automobile trips in the Boston area are less than 3 miles and 21 percent are under 1 mile, expanding the network of protected and accessible bike lanes to the places people work, shop, and play are vital to cutting automobile trips.
Boston’s commitment to expanding bicycle infrastructure has not been without its shortcomings, especially concerning the speed of implementation of protected lanes. In the 2013 Boston Bikes Network Plan, the City committed to building out 21 miles of protected bike lanes by 2018. By the time 2018 came, only six had been built. The Go Boston 2030 plan further identified over 31 miles of “priority” bikeway projects and an additional 62 miles of 15-year projects to be implemented by 2030. In early 2020, a LivableStreets progress report found that a little over 9 miles of protected bike lanes had actually been built.
The delay in filling gaps in the downtown area, including installing separated bike lanes in both directions on Charles Street and Cambridge Street has come under increasing scrutiny. In August, to shine a spotlight on safety concerns, the Boston Cyclist Union (BCU) formed a “human bike lane” along Charles Street to protect riders and protest the continued delays. Only a few weeks later, Mayor Wu announced the city would add 9.4 miles of new bike lanes by the end of 2023 which would put 35 percent of Boston’s residents and 72 percent of Boston’s jobs within a 3-minute walk of the city’s protected bike lane network. The new plan, titled “Everyone Deserves Safe Streets” would grow Boston’s public bike share by 40% and add more than 100 new stations in addition to building 30 more speed humps, raise 75 cross walks, and help 600 women feel safe and confident riding bikes in the city.
While Mayor Wu’s announcement is certainly welcomed, Boston could still learn a thing or two about cities across the country and world in how they are making cycling more accessible, safe, and swift. Only an hour south of Boston, Providence, Rhode Island has massively expanded their bike network, going from ten bike lanes per a million inhabitants to 120 in just two years. As of August 2021, the city announced plans to build out eighteen more miles of bike lanes. In a similar vein, earlier this year, Paris’ Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced Paris would shut down the city center to private cars, taking up to 50 percent of vehicles off the road. Mayor Hidalgo also announced plans to make the city “100% cyclable” by 2026. This decisive action can only come by if our roads are designed for all mobility options including walking and biking, not just cars.
In addition, cycling friendly cities like Paris and Amsterdam have effective policies for getting cars off streets — and thereby expanding access to biking, public transport, and walkability. In a comprehensive study for getting cars off streets titled “A dozen effective interventions to reduce car use in European cities: Lessons learned from a meta-analysis and transition management,” the authors concluded that the most effective ways to reduce car use included policies such as a congestion tax, removing parking spaces, and limited traffic zones, to name a few. Such ideas are sorely missing from the Go Boston 2030 demonstrating its limits as a visionary document and not a detailed matrix of policy proposals. If Mayor Wu is serious about expanding bicycle access and safety, she should look at some of these more effective policy proposals.
As advocates and residents here in Boston, we have an important role to play in shaping the future of our transportation system. They will only build it if we start building the people-power to demand it.
The bicycle is more than a mode of transport or simple technology. Its implications go beyond just getting from A-to-B, including for racial and economic justice, housing, taxpayer investments, jobs, and the ecological emergency. There is a renewed interest in sustainable city design given the damage the world's cities have done to the planet, most noticeably because of car-dependency. Boston can either lead the transition to a sustainable and inclusive 21st century city or continue to hold on to the wheel of the 20th century. In the words of H.G Wells, “Cycle tracks will abound in utopia.” So let’s start building our own! (Photo credit: Sara Nichols)
Andrew Ahern is an ecological activist and freelance writer based in Massachusetts. You can follow him on Twitter @PoliticOfNature.